When we signed up for a cross-country, we were more or less committed to flying the mission as approved. Rarely would we deviate.
One Friday afternoon, Jay and his student found themselves heading through Amarillo, TX, for a gas-and-go on their way out West. The servicing facility was a civilian FBO (Fixed Base Operation). So Jay and his stud land and head in to check the weather and so forth for their next leg. Then they head back out to the jet.
One of the things Jay emphasized on this cross-country was that the student was the pilot and, as such, he was in charge. With their walk around complete, they both strapped in. A young kid drove up with a start cart, hooked it up to the jet, then walked up front and waited patiently for them to start the jet.
With their cockpit preflight checks complete, the student gave the signal to start the Number 2 engine. After the engine started, the student looked up and saw the crew chief commanding a disconnect. Here is where Jay saw the opportunity to make his point about ‘being in charge.’ He told the student to ignore the crew chief and continue with his cockpit flow to start the remaining engine. Meanwhile, the crew chief was going nuts out in front of the jet!
When the student called to start the second engine, it was as if he could hear the crew chief say, “Yes, damn it, yes!” as he danced around out front of the jet. When the engine stabilized, the student called for a disconnect. The crew chief virtually bolted to the aft section of the jet to disconnect the start cart. When he returned to the front, the crew chief was now signaling for the chocks to be removed. Jay told the student to once again ignore him and continue with his After Engine Start checklist.
Finally, with all the checks completed the student signalled for the chocks to be removed. The crew chief raced under the jet and removed the chocks. Then he began signalling for them to taxi.
And again, Jay reminded the student who was in charge, and to call for taxi instructions. Once these were received, then, and only then, did the student add power to the taxi. The crew chief was just shaking his head.
As they came out of parking and made a right-hand turn, Jay looked back and saw the Toyota tow truck on fire! Holy Crap! Jay took the jet, added more power and got the hell out of there!
Apparently, when the crew chief drove up with the start cart, he parked the truck right behind the tailpipes! Not smart. And when Jay looked back, he could see flames rising from the hood. Not a good feeling.
All weekend, Jay was not looking forward to passing back through Amarillo, but he had to comply with the Ops order. When they arrived, Jay noticed a burnt-out hulk of a truck over next to the fence – a Toyota. “Oh crap,” he thought to himself as they taxied into parking.
When they got into the office, Jay asked the attendant, “What happened to that truck over there?”
“Oh,” the attendant replied, “that stupid new kid we hired parked it behind a transit jet on Friday, and it caught fire.”
“Any idea who it was?” asked Jay.
“No, the dumbass took off, and we haven’t seen or heard from him since,” the attendant said.
“Wow, that’s too bad,” Jay thought to himself.